Helicopter Units and losses in the Vietnam War

One out of every ten Americans who served in Vietnam became a casualty. As a result, 58,169 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.29 million who served. Although the percent of dead is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300% higher than in World War II. 75,000 Vietnam Veterans are severely disabled.

MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 500,000 missions, airlifting 900,000 patients (nearly one-half were Americans). The average lapse between being wounded and reaching a hospital was less than one hour, and as a result, less than one percent of those wounded died of their wounds within the first 24 hours.

The helicopter provided unprecedented mobility. Without helicopters, it would have taken three times as many troops to secure the 800 mile border with Cambodia and Laos (the politicians thought the Geneva Conventions of 1954 and the Geneva Accords of 1962 would secure the border).

Army Huey’s totaled 9,713,762 flight hours in Vietnam between October 1966 and the end of American involvement in early 1973. Cobra helicopters totaled 1,110,716 flight hours in Vietnam. This is also the main reason that soldiers in Vietnam saw more action than those soldiers of preceding wars. Large groups of soldiers could be air-lifted into a battle and then be withdrawn after a few hours and flown to another area to reinforce other units or to engage the enemy again in a different portion of the country.

The chart below is not all inclusive but includes most of the helicopter units that served during the Vietnam War. Where it is known, I’ve indicated their unit name / call sign, and a sample of nose art or unit patch for those units. I did post another article on this website a while ago that includes hundreds of photos of nose art used by these crews in-county. I’ll leave a link at the end of this article in the event you want to check it out.

If I’ve erred on the chart below, please let me know so I can make corrections. Also, I invite you to get back to me on any missing units, call signs or duplicates. I am aware that many of the units mentioned herein had multiple call signs and nose art – I’m just limited to the available space I can’t show them all in this format..

Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 6 (HS-6) made WESTAC deployments in 1966 and 1967-8 on the carrier USS Kearsarge and provided Combat Search and Rescue in the Gulf of Tonkin prior to the establishment of Combat Support Squadron 7 (HC-7).

Combat SAR operations

U.S. AIR FORCE HELICOPTER UNITS

Rotor heads

SOUTH VIETNAM HELICOPTER UNITS

VNAF (Viet Nam Air Force) was the air force of the Republic of South Vietnam.

Approximately 12,000 helicopters saw action in Vietnam (All services) and it’s estimated that 40,000 pilots served in the war. Those red figures in the chart below represent the combined total of all other helicopters / crews outside of the Huey category; I was unable to locate individual statistics for each line item for that group. The numbers in the destroyed column are actual numbers which are verified by tail numbers.

It should also be pointed out that 532 American passengers were killed in downed aircraft and are not included in any of the KIA totals.

KIA

KIA

Model

# Served

# Destroyed

Pilots Lost

Crew Lost

All UH-1 Huey Slicks/guns

7,013

3,305

1,074

1,103

All AH-1G Cobras

⇑

272

⇑

⇑

CH-21C Banana

⇑

18

⇑

⇑

CH-3 Jolly Green’s

⇑

14

⇑

⇑

CH-46 / 47 Chinook

⇑

284

⇑

⇑

CH-53 Sea Stallions

⇑

23

⇑

⇑

CH-54 Flying Crane

5000

9

1128

1601

HH-37 Heavy lift transport

⇓

2

⇓

⇓

HH-3 Jolly Green Giant

⇓

21

⇓

⇓

HH-43 Huskie Rescue

⇓

13

⇓

⇓

HH-53 Super Jolly Green

⇓

9

⇓

⇓

OH-13/23 Light Observation

⇓

240

⇓

⇓

OH-6 LOH Scout

⇓

842

⇓

⇓

OH-58A Armed Scout

⇓

45

⇓

⇓

Misc Sioux / Sikorsky SH-3/34

⇓

14

⇓

⇓

Totals

12,013

5,111

2,202

2,704

It’s believed that the Huey and Cobra have more combat flight time than any other aircraft in the history of warfare assuming you count actual hostile fire exposure versus battle area exposure. As an example, heavy bombers during World War II most often flew missions lasting many hours with only 10 to 20 minutes of that time exposed to hostile fire. Helicopters in Vietnam were always exposed to hostile fire even in their base camps.

The following short video offers an animation presentation that shows crash sites during the war on a map of Southeast Asia. It’s interesting to note that only three major areas of the country show heavy concentrations in additions to the many locations in Cambodia and Laos.

The following article was published in the San Diego Union Tribune by John Wilkens on January 8, 2017 about the last pilots to die in Vietnam:

History remembers them as the last two American pilots to die in Vietnam, killed when their Marine Corps helicopter went into the South China Sea during the frantic evacuation of Saigon on April 29, 1975. Their bodies were never recovered

“I’ve thought about it every day for 41 years,” said Steve Wills, who was on the helicopter as crew chief and survived the crash. “I think it would be a healing thing for the whole nation.”

One of the aviators was Capt. William Nystul, who grew up in Coronado. The oldest of four sons, he graduated from Coronado High and San Diego State. He was 29 when he died, married with a young son. His co-pilot, 1st Lt. Michael Shea, from El Paso, Texas, was 25.

YT-14 was on search and rescue duty off the carrier Hancock that day, ready to swoop in if other helicopters crashed and the crews needed to be pulled from the water. It took off at 6 a.m. for what would turn out to be about 17 hours of flying, interrupted a half-dozen times to land on the carrier to refuel.

About 1 p.m., Nystul and Shea came on board to relieve the original pilots. Nystul, who had been teaching at a fixed-wing flight school in Pensacola, was sent back to Vietnam for his second tour after about 20 hours of re-training in the CH-46. Shea, a CH-53 pilot, had about 25 hours of training in the 46 before he was deployed.

Wills, the crew chief and right gunner, and Richard Scott, the mechanic and left gunner, were the other crew members. It was a busy day. They transported refugees from one ship to another. They rescued a Vietnamese man who crashed his small plane in the water.

“We were dodging aircraft left and right,” Wills said in a phone interview from his home in Kalispell, Mont. “The helicopter flew good that day.”

At about 11 p.m., YT-14 was running low on fuel and needed to land on the Hancock. But there wasn’t room. Nystul got waved off twice. Finally cleared to come in, he had to make a hard right turn away from the carrier to avoid being hit by a plane arriving from behind.

“Missed us by less than 100 feet,” Wills said.

He remembers the pilot telling the crew, “Somebody is going to die up here tonight.”

Into the water

Bruce Collison was a medic that night on board the Hancock. Now living in Sarasota, Fla., he recalls being on the flight deck, transfixed by the red, blinking anti-collision light of a helicopter overhead: YT-14.

“It continued circling the length of the ship, running out of fuel, looking for a place to land, losing altitude with every pass,” he said. “I’m convinced that if they had tried to land, with all the other helicopters there, some of them refueling, there would have been a total conflagration and a lot of people would have been killed. So they took it into the water instead.”

Others have surmised that the pilots got disoriented; it was a pitch-black night, no visible moon, impossible to see the horizon. The last thing Wills remembers hearing over his headset was a voice saying: “Pick it up! Pick it up! Pick it up!” Then darkness.

He regained consciousness underwater and made it to the surface. His left leg was fractured and his right hip dislocated. His helmet had been torn off. He fired two pen flares, then activated his rescue strobe. Scott was nearby and turned on his strobe, too.

On the Hancock, Collison remembers seeing the two strobes and thinking, “Great, there are survivors!” Then it dawned on him: “There should be four strobes.”

Another CH-46 lifted off the carrier, and to those on the flight deck, it looked as if it might disappear, too. Its landing lights went under water. Moments later, the engines roared and it lifted into the air and back toward the ship, carrying the engines roared and it lifted into the air and back toward the ship, carrying the two survivors.

The next day, on board the Hancock, they held a traditional burial at sea for the pilots. There were no bodies, so they put mock corpses under the American flags, and slid those into the ocean.

“We were numb like zombies,” Collison said. “We’d spent all day saving people and then we lost two Marines. Nobody wanted to be the last guy to die in Vietnam, and then it happened to two guys that we knew. The whole thing felt surreal.”

It’s part of military lore that no man is left behind, but the evacuation task force had orders to move on. Saigon had fallen to the Viet Cong.

A sobering video showing the aftereffects of helicopter ccrashes…many after the recovery:

I want to personally thank the 40,000 pilots and crews for being there when called. You are all held in the highest regard by us grunts and others who were in harm’s way. Thank you for your service and Welcome Back to those who made it home. Side note: Every time a Chinook or Blackhawk passes overhead from nearby Selfridge National Guard Base, I still find myself looking into the sky and watching it cross over until it’s gone…and then sometime when I’m outside, I hold my cane in both hands overhead in tribute to those magnificent men in their flying machines – and was then thankful that they didn’t land in my backyard.

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45 thoughts on “Helicopter Units and losses in the Vietnam War”

Hello, I found your site about 6 months ago. I was a crew chief on a UH-1d slicks with the 191st Assault helming co. stationed at Bearcat 3 corp from June 67-68. Your new email showed the Bounty Hunter patch which was our Gun ships. I have enclosed the slick patch which was the Boomerangs which had 2 flight white flight and yellow flight. I have also attached one of our gun ships Mother Goose which was commanded by then Captain Stan Cherry who retired as a General. Hope this helps, appreciate your site, by the way I burned shit for 31/2 weeks when I stopped flying missions. After the 3 1/2 of shit burning I decided to fly the rest of my tour.

> pdoggbiker posted: “One out of every ten Americans who served in Vietnam > became a casualty. As a result, 58,169 were killed and 304,000 wounded out > of 2.29 million who served. Although the percent of dead is similar to > other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300% ” >

Casualty rates are suspect here. Where are they from? Death rates were not similar to previous wars; they were much lower. This is largely true due to helicopters. Also, one out of ten being casualties is way too high, even for aircrews or just infantry. However, lots of good info on the site, with great photos. Thanks for your work.

I do know without the Choppers, the Troops could never have went to all the places, they went there. They may have been able to however, it would have taken much longer. I’ve never been on/in a Chopper. And have no plans to, ever go in one.

> pdoggbiker posted: “One out of every ten Americans who served in Vietnam > became a casualty. As a result, 58,169 were killed and 304,000 wounded out > of 2.29 million who served. Although the percent of dead is similar to > other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300% ” >

Without air cover, I would not be responding ! Helo pilots were all a couple bubbles off level and appeared to be fearless. Our main coverage was from Navy Seawolfs using old , under powered B model Huey’s. They did the best they could with what they had. Always overloaded , not enough fuel they saved our bacon many times. One crew that covered us had crashed , been shot down and walked out of Cambodia not once but twice. Thank God for them all !

Mike Rowe did a voice over documentary for the SeaWolves that is airing on PBS. http://mikerowe.com/2018/09/scramble-the-seawolves/ The most decorated Navy Squadron ever assembled is the least known. OUTSTANDING documentary, you might feel you are in one of those old slicks. I ride with some of those guys in the Run For The Wall group from LA to D.C. and Rolling Thunder. Thank you for your service, Welcome Home. Salute”

The Americal(23rd Infantry)choppers were, among others, the 176th Avn. Co., call sign was Minuteman then a number of course. Their gunships(usually older Hueys)were called Muskets. We also had a unit whose call sign was Blue Ghost. I think these were all gunships and a lot of them were Cobras

Aviation units paid a heavy price in ‘72. I remember one night 2 downed cobras brought in slung under helicopters.
Says 15 kia in vfw magazine, at time of occurrence it was 30 kia and a .51-calhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9K32_Strela-2

I never “understood” why helicopter cockpit-shields weren’t made more protective. Bullet-proof might have not been feasible (did anyone ever try?) but at least something better than the flimsy plexi-glass they used through the years (did they have foils, those days?). I know they put sandbags on the floor and over those small nose windows for additional protection.

Yes, weight, yes, costs etc. – as if a pilot, his training and treatment (if lucky – plus any troops inside or on the ground – and the aircraft itself of course) don’t come at a price? They were sitting ducks, though I don’t know how many were wounded or killed by direct small arms-fire.

Also, is it any better today? We’re talking half a century (!) – any lessons learned?

Thanks for posting your articles. In answer to your question: “who reads these…?” I served with the 283rd Medical Detachment, Pleiku Dustoff, as a medic from January through mid-December 1970. Memory being a “notorious liar”, I am always searching for historical information about the unit and I find that there is very little information out there. l

Regarding the information on the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division. 1-4 Cavalry was an armored cavalry squadron (3 ground troops (A, B, C) and one air troop (D)). The D Troop callsign was Darkhorse. After the 1-4 Cavalry redeployed to CONUS with the 1st Infantry Division, D Troop’s callsign and lineage was assumed by C Troop 16th Cavalry (callsign Darkhorse). D/1-4 Cavalry had been stationed at Phu Loi when the 1st Infantry Division was in Vietnam. After the division redeployed, C-16 Cavalry was stationed at Can Tho. Hope this is not too confusing (it is to me!). Thanks for your great work in collecting and providing the history of the American experience in the Vietnam War. Respectfully, Carl Bell

Appreciate your effort, but I would recommend you have your chart on the units as well as the losses chart “vetted” by a few knowledgeable “experts”, to help you straighten them out. I recommend you contact Joe Kline of Aviation Art fame, for one.

For instance, in your “loss chart” you lumped together CH-46/CH-47’s! That’s like lumping together UCLA and USC, or 747’s and B-52’s (both airplanes, right?)
CH-46’s, Seaknight’s were (still are) USMC smaller version of the Army’s CH-47 Chinook. Entirely different aircraft by an entirely different organization(s).

In your organization’s chart, under the 101st Airborne Division, A Troop (Assault), B Troop (Banshee) and C Troop (Condor), of the 2d Squadron/17 Cav, as well as A Battery, 377th Arty should be added.

I was with the ‘A’ 159thASHB from June68-June68. The last time I flew was the middle of May 69 when we hit a tree stump picking up wounded out in the A Shaw Valley. The Chopper was Pachyderm 718540. I have pictures of it (at least the parts)back at a supply dump( probable at Camp Eagle?) near the Phu Bai Air Port Paul Ulrich

Hi John,
You continue to amaze me with the depth of research and information gathering you are willing to do. With men like you, the awareness and the honor of those that served will never be forgotten. As I told you the first time I found your site, it is easy to get lost on your site and not appear until weeks later.
BTW, I read your second book and enjoyed it. I have intended to do a review, I just haven’t got to it yet. I’m trying to finalize my second book and get it to an editor. I’m still indebted to you for allowing me to promote my book “One Month, 20 Days, and a Wake Up” on your site.
Keep up the great work Brother. God Bless.

What about those Ghostriders? A Company, 158th Aviation Battalion (Assault Helicopter),
101st Airborne Division (Airmobile).
I did not serve but have been involved in two reunions with these gents. Bad Boys, Great Souls. Thanks to all . . .

Lot of information. I was the Maintenance Officer for the 358th Avn. Det. in Vung Tau from March of 1971 to Feb. 1972. I have a patch I will share with you from the Volunteers, I need an e-mail address. We had 5 UH-1H Models, one stationed in each Corp., also three Beavers and one U-21 all based out of Vung Tau. We were the air arm for the 525th Military Intel. Group. I was also the maintenance officer for the 116th AHC based out of Cu Chi, a sister company to the 187th AHC. I was there August 1967 to August 1968. I also have some patches I will share with you from the 116th AHC.

Cecil,
I also filled in as a door gunner for about half-a-dozen times when one of the door gunners was sick. Because I was the only intel analyst for our unit (571st MI Det. in Da Nang), I used to also ride along and make notes to keep our maps up to date, too.
I wrote an article for the VHCMA early-last year about it.

Another excellent read. Really inducing some goosebumps (& a bit o’ dampness) Pdogg. Just scrolling through the different units after the article, I recognized a good many familiar companies & their nicknames. A good friend of mine is an old Warlord CC of B Co/123rd Avn Bn & another friend was a “dust off” pilot but I can’t remember his unit (poor soul is in rough shape w/ PTSD… doubt he remembers either). Hang tough, Denny!!!
My small hometown area lost 47 young warriors to Nam, among them several rotary aviators. Please allow me to reminisce a bit & honor their memories by “speaking” the names of our lost homegrown aviators here (appropriately):

*Cpt Bill Collum(22), Pilot, 2nd Sqdn “Banshees”, 17th Air Cav. Shot down in A Shau during furious
mountaintop Ranger extraction attempt. Door gunners exited just as chopper was hit, before it tumbled down mountainside, flattened & inverted, lodged in trees for many hours w/ pilots pinned inside. KIA 4/23/71, recovered…… AM, PH The other pilot, Cpt Louis Speidel, was severely injured, eventually rescued but died a month later from his injuries…. AM, PH, BSM, DFC

I served as a trauma surgeon at the 85th Evac in Phu Bai.
We rededicated (originally dedicated in 1984) our local Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the 37 KIAs from our tri-county area in upstate NY in Sept. 2016. Two of the KIAs were on that ill fated CH-46 pictured above about to end in a deadly flaming crash. It was Helicopter Alley, Quang Ngai Provence, 7/15/66.
Crew Chief Sgt. Robert R. Telfer, USMC, Fonda, NY
Cpl. Orsen H. Case. USMC, Johnstown, NY

Please e-mail me so that we may share ideas and information.
I recently self published Welcome Home From Vietnam, Finally, A Vietnam
Trauma Surgeon’s Memoir (Amazon.com) and have been active in veterans affairs since returning home. I now research and discuss preventive measures, PRIOR to discharge, to molify PTS, PTS(D) and suicide.

My father, Jeffrey L Brown, was a Cobra pilot in Vietnam, 1969-1971. Far more decorated than he’d ever let on. I only discovered since his passing 2months ago, just how much. Flew helicopters from age 19 – 66. An aerial ace without a doubt! My hero…
Just researching in hopes of finding out more about him & his “brothers”
, photos, stories, anything.
101st airborne WO3 92D

Enjoyed the article and listings, though saw some errors. D troop 3rd of the 5th in 68, 69 and 70 used the called signs of Lighthorse for Hq and C and C birds, scouts were Warwagons, guns were Crusaders, slicks were Longknives, and our ground platoon had been Doughboys. In the late 70s after flying Dustoff for awhile I moved over to Bravo of the 227th and their callsign had been the potato mashers which became shortened to be just the mashers until I left in late 71.